The big things and the little ones, day by day

October 1, 1982: Fast Times

(Note to patrons: now that October is here, there are going to be lots of posts on this blog, as I have lots of October days to draw from.)

October 1, 1982, is a Friday. In Orlando, Florida, EPCOT Center opens, on the 11th anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World. In Chicago, more deaths are reported from cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules hidden on store shelves, bringing the total to seven. The crime will never be solved. West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt loses a vote of confidence in Parliament and will be replaced by Helmut Kohl. President Ronald Reagan attends a luncheon marking the start of the 1982 term of the Supreme Court, which will begin on Monday. He also writes to Republican Congressional leaders to reiterate his support for a Constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget, which is nevertheless defeated in the House of Representatives today. The Nordic Association for Clinical Sexology wraps up its fifth conference in Sigtuna, Sweden. In Michigan, a new law takes effect regulating the activities of rendering plants and other matters related to the disposal of dead animals. The Baltimore Orioles take both games of a doubleheader from the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-3 and 7-1, cutting the Brewers’ lead in the American League Eastern Division to one game with two to play.

Shows on TV tonight include the premiere episode of Remington Steele, the second episode of Knight Rider starring David Hasselhoff, and the sixth-season opener of Dallas. New movies in theaters for the weekend include My Favorite Year and Sorceress. The top-grossing movies are E.T., An Officer and a Gentleman, Amityville II: The Possession, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Sony’s first consumer CD player, the CDP-101, goes on sale in Japan. When it hits the American market next year, the list price will be $800, unless you want a remote control—then it’s $1000. Warren Zevon plays the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, and AC/DC plays Leeds, England. In California, Olivia Newton-John plays Oakland and Metallica plays Anaheim. On the new Billboard Hot 100, which comes out tomorrow, “Jack and Diane” by John Cougar takes the #1 spot, knocking “Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller Band to #2. (Cougar’s “Hurts So Good” is at #10.) The songs in positions 3 through 8 hold from the previous week. (In fact, 21 of the week’s top 40 songs hold the same positions as the previous week.) The lone new entry in the Top 10 is “I Keep Forgettin'” by Michael McDonald at #9—it replaces “Love Is in Control” by Donna Summer, which plunges all the way to #59. (Last week’s #11 song, “Take It Away” by Paul McCartney, takes an even bigger fall to #66.) The biggest move within the Top 40 is enormous: Olivia Newton-John blasts from #39 to #13 with “Heart Attack.” Juice Newton’s “Break It to Me Gently” is up 12 spots from #27 to #15. The highest debut within the Top 40 is “Heartlight” by Neil Diamond at #35. “Up Where We Belong” by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes is new at #36.

In Dubuque, Iowa, the afternoon jock at KDTH looks forward to Sunday, when he will be at Wrigley Field in Chicago for the Cubs’ season finale against the St. Louis Cardinals. He and his friends will watch the scoreboard to see if the Brewers can hold off the Orioles and win the division championship. (They do.) Always conscious of his regrets, he has noticed that “Wasted on the Way” by Crosby, Stills and Nash, which is at #92 after spending most of the summer on the radio, sounds particularly appropriate now that autumn has arrived.